2. “Hello Goodbye”

Released: November 24, 1967 (UK)No. 1 for: 7 weeks (UK)

“Hello Goodbye” was released on Magical Mystery Tour, an album that featured some of The Beatles’ most inspired songwriting. “Hello Goodbye,” however, was a throwback to the Beatles of old — a simple and impossibly catchy melody with some clever but easily understandable lyrics. One of the persistent stories about the song is that Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics on the fly. The lyrics, however, aren’t what make this one of the most memorable songs in The Beatles’ catalog.

The final minute of the song is punctuated with Ringo Starr’s marching band beat and the unforgettable chant, usually transcribed as “hela, hey-ba, hello-a.” The simple, cute song was suddenly transformed into a powerful swell of emotion, and the feeling that it was being recorded inside of an echo chamber. It lifted the song into anthem status, and has become one of the most recognizable musical moments of its era.